Cochrane Db Syst Rev
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Neuropathic pain is difficult to treat. Oxcarbazepine is an anticonvulsant drug closely related to carbamazepine and is reportedly better tolerated. Oxcarbazepine has been reported to be efficacious in the treatment of neuropathic pain. ⋯ On the basis of moderate quality evidence from one trial in diabetic peripheral neuropathy, oxcarbazepine is effective in reducing pain for this condition. However, this conclusion does not take into account negative results from other trials in diabetic peripheral neuropathy that could not be included in our meta-analysis. We did not find any evidence from randomised controlled trials to determine the efficacy or safety of oxcarbazepine for other kinds of neuropathic pain. Most adverse effects related to oxcarbazepine are rated as mild to moderate in severity, but adverse events leading to discontinuation of drug administration or serious adverse events are not uncommon. More well designed randomised controlled trials investigating oxcarbazepine for various types of neuropathic pain are needed.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2013
Review Meta AnalysisTraining to recognise the early signs of recurrence in schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia has a lifetime prevalence of less than one per cent. Studies have indicated that early symptoms that are idiosyncratic to the person with schizophrenia (early warning signs) often precede acute psychotic relapse. Early warning signs interventions propose that learning to detect and manage early warning signs of impending relapse might prevent or delay acute psychotic relapse. ⋯ This review indicates that early warning signs interventions may have a positive effect on the proportions of people re-hospitalised and on rates of relapse, but not on time to recurrence. However, the overall quality of the evidence was very low, indicating that we do not know if early warning signs interventions will have similar effects outside trials and that it is very likely that further research will alter these estimates. Moreover, the early warning signs interventions were used along side other psychological interventions, and we do not know if they would be effective on their own. They may be cost-effective due to reduced hospitalisation and relapse rates, but before mental health services consider routinely providing psychological interventions involving the early recognition and prompt management of early warning signs to adults with schizophrenia, further research is required to provide evidence of high or moderate quality regarding the efficacy of early warning signs interventions added to usual care without additional psychological interventions, or to clarify the kinds of additional psychological interventions that might aid its efficacy. Future RCTs should be adequately-powered, and designed to minimise the risk of bias and be transparently reported. They should also systematically evaluate resource costs and resource use, alongside efficacy outcomes and other outcomes that are important to people with serious mental illness and their carers.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2013
ReviewInterventions to optimise prescribing for older people in care homes.
There is a substantial body of evidence that prescribing for care home residents is suboptimal and requires improvement. Consequently, there is a need to identify effective interventions to optimise prescribing and resident outcomes in this context. ⋯ Robust conclusions could not be drawn from the evidence due to variability in design, interventions, outcomes and results. The interventions implemented in the studies in this review led to the identification and resolution of medication-related problems, however evidence of an effect on resident-related outcomes was not found. There is a need for high-quality cluster-randomised controlled trials testing clinical decision support systems and multidisciplinary interventions that measure well-defined, important resident-related outcomes.
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Cancer-related pain places a heavy burden on public health with related high expenditure. Severe pain is associated with a decreased quality of life in patients with cancer. A significant proportion of patients with cancer-related pain are under-treated.There is a need for more effective control of cancer-related pain. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) may have a role in pain management. The effectiveness and safety of SCS for patients with cancer-related pain is currently unknown. ⋯ Current evidence is insufficient to establish the role of SCS in treating refractory cancer-related pain. Future randomised studies should focus on the implantation of SCS in patients with cancer-related pain.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2013
Review Meta AnalysisInterventions for preventing and treating pelvic and back pain in pregnancy.
More than two-thirds of pregnant women experience low-back pain (LBP) and almost one-fifth experience pelvic pain. Pain increases with advancing pregnancy and interferes with work, daily activities and sleep. ⋯ Moderate-quality evidence suggested that acupuncture or exercise, tailored to the stage of pregnancy, significantly reduced evening pelvic pain or lumbo-pelvic pain more than usual care alone, acupuncture was significantly more effective than exercise for reducing evening pelvic pain, and a 16- to 20-week training program was no more successful than usual prenatal care at preventing pelvic or LBP. Low-quality evidence suggested that exercise significantly reduced pain and disability from LBP.There was low-quality evidence from single trials for other outcomes because of high risk of bias and sparse data; clinical heterogeneity precluded pooling. Publication bias and selective reporting cannot be ruled out.Physiotherapy, OMT, acupuncture, a multi-modal intervention, or the addition of a rigid pelvic belt to exercise seemed to relieve pelvic or back pain more than usual care alone. Acupuncture was more effective than physiotherapy at relieving evening lumbo-pelvic pain and disability and improving pain and function when it was started at 26- rather than 20-weeks' gestation, although the effects were small.There was no significant difference in LBP and function for different support belts, exercise, neuro emotional technique or spinal manipulation (SMT), or in evening pelvic pain between deep and superficial acupuncture.Very low-quality evidence suggested a specially-designed pillow may reduce night-time LBP.Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimates of effect and is likely to change the estimates. Future research would benefit from the introduction of an agreed classification system that can be used to categorise women according to presenting symptoms.